Mob Wives Star Alicia DiMichele on Big Ang's Brave Cancer Battle: 'You Would Never Know That She Is in the Fight of Her Life'

Mob Wives' Angela "Big Ang" Raiola was just dealt a heartbreaking blow in her cancer battle: The chemotherapy isn't working.

Despite the devastating news, her costar Alicia DiMichele tells PEOPLE that the fan-favorite reality personality is staying positive.

"Ang is truly a beautiful person and is what I like to call 'Soul Rich.' One thing I always say is that I have 'Big Love for Big Ang,' " says DiMichele, who appeared on season 4. "I had the pleasure of spending time with Ang a couple of weeks ago. I was amazed by her. She lights up the room making everyone in it feel special."

"I literally could not stop staring at her and watching her every move. You would never know that she is in the fight of her life," she adds. "She is a wonderful mother and friend to all. I simply adore her and am proud to call her my friend. My boys and I are praying for her, she is BIG in our hearts."

Her other costars have rallied around her on social media.

Doctors first found a lemon-sized tumor in Raiola's throat in March 2015. After two surgeries, the mother of two said she felt "lucky" to have caught the disease at stage 2 after years of smoking.

"I'm learning how to swallow again," Raiola, 55, told PEOPLE in September. "I have a phobia of choking. I'm just doing the best I can, taking it day by day."

But this week, her sister Janine Detore revealed Raiola had been hospitalized for stage 4 lung and brain cancer, and after a little less than a month of chemotherapy, one tumor had increased in size and the other remained unchanged.

Detore started a GoFundMe page to raise money for alternative treatments like cannabis oil – and surpassed the $25,000 goal in just two days.

The Staten Island native is also getting help from friends in show business: The off-Broadway play My Big Gay Italian Midlife Crisis is hosting a fundraiser at the Theater Center on March 31.